Are cheaper Pampers and Tide coming in 2018?

A high-stakes game of chicken at Procter & Gamble could end with lower prices for Pampers, Tide and Gillette razors.

The consumer products giant and activist investor Nelson Peltz agreed to end what is believed to be the costliest battle for boardroom control in corporate America's history. Although Peltz ultimately lost the vote for the seat in a nailbiter, P&G appointed him to the board starting March 1.

Peltz declined to comment for this story, but his investment firm's scathing September report on P&G's struggles offers clues that he could pursue a price-chipping strategy once he's on the inside.

In the report, Peltz's Trian Management Group said P&G's "greatest" challenge is declining market share. The culprit: P&G products were marked up an average of 50% over the cost to make them, Trian found.

Analysts believe P&G will experiment with reduced prices and introduce cheap new products to win back customers.

Raymond James' Joseph Altobello points to Tide Simply, a cheaper version of Tide that rolled out in 2013, as a past example of P&G targeting the lower end.

Bernstein analyst Ali Dibadj expects P&G to ramp up this strategy to reach cost-conscious shoppers. He believes P&G will try to stop the bleeding by giving customers more free samples with the hope they'll buy full-priced items later on.

P&G already started lowering prices on one of its most important products. During its fight against Peltz, P&G slashed Gillette prices and introduced new disposable razors.

P&G had focused most of its attention on more expensive Gillette razors in recent years, allowing cheaper subscription services Dollar Shave Club, Harry's and ShaveLogic to gain a foothold. Gillette's command of the razor market fell by 11 percentage points over the past two years. It now controls around 56% of the market.